Strip away the fact that the three Dunboyne GAA adult teams won during the weekend around which this story is based and it was the toughest week I’ve had in a long time. Given circumstances which have prevailed here for longer than one cares to remember, that’s saying something.
Other than the highlights earmarked above, the week unfolded as follows – Fell out of the wheelchair, dog got hit by a car (he’s ok thankfully), my brand new keyboard got destroyed by spilt tea and said liquid proceeded to scald me. So anything, anything would be an improvement.
It will probably come as little surprise to anyone that greatest solace in the midst of the chaos arrived via the website. What might raise an eyebrow or two would be that while pumping out ‘ordinary’ material was of course central to that, but, nearer to the weekend, things got an additional bonus when contact was at the very least established with somebody whose material has been part of the staple diet of viewing on YouTube for as long as television on the go has been a thing.
Now, to anybody that knows me or has been following journalistic output produced in this seat for any length of time, it should be no shock that, outside of sport, farming and machinery are absolutely the most fervent passions via which these here wheels are kept turning. Especially when the conveyance – and the person in it – feel like he is about to or wanted to seize up. Nor that ‘Deutz Tractor’ were the first two put into the search bar.
When first yours truly gloriously became addicted to the farming ‘drug’ that shade of green was the dominant force in our locality. Those of the farming fraternity with whom closest connections will hopefully always be maintained had fleets of them back then.
It’s different now, John Deere, Massey Ferguson and, increasingly, Fendt have the lion’s share of the market, but back then, the other shade of green held sway. Of all the different models of Deutz that were on the go at time, the DX 6.05 (two wheel drive) was my absolute favourite.
A large part of that was down to personal connection and sentiment. It was the last tractor I evrr sat in, plus, it was the tractor my brother was in most while he was working with our neighbours and friends the Clarke family.
From memory, it was a 75 horse power machine. But it was well up to the operations of the day – drawing grain, turning hay, square baling, the works. Such is the way things have advanced in with machinery in the intervening years that 75HP wouldn’t even suffice as a yard tractor.
Nothing will ever take away that day spent with Paul drawing silage from Clonsilla back in 1991. Not that it ever left, but it all came back to me during the week. Due to a combination of my own site and the video streaming outlet and a few of the social media outlets.
The following is probably the case with anybody who flicks through the video hosting site, but, after a while, a list of favourite farming and/or machinery channels was assembled. The likes of Balmesh, The Funky Farmer, JWB Farm Services, George Saunders Photography, Lord Muck, OLF, Gerry6420 and Cotontop3 to list but a few. Initially, my interest was in seeing gear similar to what I was used to around these parts – Deutz tractors and combines, Eureka trailers, Welger balers, dear old Haybobs and the likes. And yes, they were found on channels such as Shane Casey and Corkmachinevideos on the Irish scene. More than that, though, it opened thee door to a whole new world of farming and growling diesel machinery across the globe, particularly in America.
More significantly though, over time I have gradually, eventually (a) got the confidence to give my own Boylan Talks Sport channel and, an even bigger bonus from my point of view, (b) slowly, very slowly, getting the confidence to reach out to other YouTubers. At the moment, I must thank Kurt Mills – AKA Lord Muck who was the first creator to have, well, got in touch and we’ve been chatting over and back via Instagram for a while now.
There’s an old Irish saying “Every day’s a school day”. In other words, you never know what opportunities a day is going to throw up. Example, when my late father was first diagnosed with cancer in 2013 Paul and I decided we would buy a few cattle – the line of thought being that a few bullocks being around the place again would either give the old man a lift or act as a comfort for me if things ended up going the other way.
It kept him alive for seven and a bit more years – of that I am wholly convinced – and, apart from being blessed to have Susie enter my life in 2018, it gave me the seven happiest years of my life. Until dad’s failing health and other circumstances outside of my control led to matters being wound up in March of last year. The thing is, when something has been such a central tenet of your life as the cattle were of mine, their removal from the equation left a void more gaping than the Grand Canyon to be filled in my life.
Has it been filled? Not by a country mile. Truth is, it may never be unless I get back there. Several attempts have been made – if you’ve been following my journey on this site or social media or YouTube itself you’ll have seen my various attempts at vegetable farming. Yes it did work to a point.
We did manage to several crops of a variety of vegetables but, as seems to be the way with everything I try seems to get so far and then either stagnate or fall apart altogether. Crops sowed and left to rot in the ground, seed in boxes which never got planted and projects in the shed that were started but never finished.
***
Ah, the shed. So we arrive at where the YouTube channels become central to negotiating one’s way through life’s often rocky road. As stated earlier, initially it was all tractors, other machinery and cattle. It still mostly is, but the net has been thrown considerably wider.
Which in itself leads me back to Cotontop3 and Lord Muck. Tim O’Bryant (CT3) is a logger and tree surgeon in MS., USA and apart from the fact that chainsaws and the growl of diesel engines have always been a beloved form of therapy for me – to the bewilderment of many – if I had either of the lads workshops I could and would die a happy man.
Why? Well firstly to have it as a ‘Me Space’ for some ‘Me Time’. Being involved in sport, well, writing about it and the cattle amply filled that category for as long as can be recalled, so with both of those off the menu owing to Covid-19 and a lot of other dross, wheels had to be diverted down new avenues.
Or to be more precise, re-tracing some old ones. I’ve always loved working with tools – insofar as is doable – and nuts and bolts. Being stopped doing woodwork in school (a whole different story) left an itch that could never be scratched thereafter. Until an opportunity to get back into doing a bit of same emerged from the mire which has enveloped things since my mother had her stroke five years ago.
With bovines off the agenda, what was the calf shed got a major clean out. There was talk of making a home bar which, appealing as it admittedly did sound, wasn’t where I wanted to go at all. Having kept myself going through all the turmoil watching the likes of Kurt and Tim and the others mentioned, when the shed space became available, with the blessing of the ‘higher authorities’ Susie and I set about making a workshop for myself. With, it must be added rapidly, endless assistance from my ‘second family’ in the local RehabCare centre which I attend four days a week.
Now, of course, having a shed is one thing, having the gear to do anything therein is entirely another. A shortage of ideas was never going to be an issue. Thus, accumulating tools and equipment with which to go to work was akin to letting a kid loose in Lapland at Christmas. There was a distinction included there between tools and equipment because, as well as woodwork kit and wrenches etc, the good lady also got around me to give my own YouTube channel a proper go. So proper cameras and sound recording/editing machinery was also on the shopping list!
***
In literal terms, my YouTube channel has existed since 2009, but for 90% of the intervening time there was nothing on it. Save for Paul getting a few video clips on his phone while he was at farming himself or working with our cattle. Over time, the farmers of the locality got wind of the fact that I was trying to build up my YouTube profile and sent me clips with which to work away with but nothing beats having your own gear and doing your own stuff.
That of course applies to farming itself too. Thus, one of the greatest sources of pride in my entire life has been the ability to buy my own tractor – three of them actually. Indeed, letting go of same will forever rank as the second biggest upset of my four plus decades on this here round ball. Once the decision was made and the necessary accoutrements for ‘proper’ YouTube production it will hardly shock anybody to learn that farm machinery was my first port of call when it came to filming my own stuff. Or, to be more exact, Susie filming it for me.
It admittedly did inflate my viewing and subscriber figures – quite considerably actually though that wouldn’t be hard. Also, they wouldn’t be in the same stratosphere as any of the other YouTube creators mentioned in this piece. Indeed, it was just noticed while commencing this offering that another sub had left the building.
However, only be observing, interacting with and learning from some of the biggest and best out there can you even hope to reach somewhere near their levels. The journey continues.
Leave a Reply